


The Rose Remembrance

by drawAline2MeandU



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-12
Updated: 2015-06-15
Packaged: 2018-04-04 01:03:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4120651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/drawAline2MeandU/pseuds/drawAline2MeandU
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When you die, that's supposed to be the end. No more fear. No more anger. No more fighting. When you die, you're supposed to be at peace... but Commander Shepard isn't. Now Cerberus has brought her back to continue the fight against the Reapers, but while she's thankful for the second chance she can't help feeling they made a terrible mistake.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story begins at the opening of Mass Effect 2 and continues on until the end.

The first thing Commander Rose Shepard remembered was a tugging felling pulling her out of the dark and cold and into... pain. She was surrounded by pain - wallowing in it. Everything burned, and ached, and throbbed. She opened her eyes slowly, trying to think though the haze, and was blinded by light. She could hear voices of two people talking above her but their words didn't make any sense.

She couldn't feel her body. Arms and legs were just screaming nerves that melted together until she couldn't remember if she even had a body. She opened her mouth to scream but nothing came out. Suddenly the voices around her changed and she could feel their attention on her. A dark shape blocked part of the light from view and she focused on it. She fought against the pain and forced her hand to rise towards the shadow.

Help me. Please. She begged silently. The shadow grabbed her hand and pushed it back down to her side.

"Shepard, don't try to move. Just lie still. Try to stay calm." The shadow instructed her. It was a woman. Shepard fought to move, to speak, to scream, to do something, anything. Her body failed her and a weight pulled her back down into darkness. To drift. To wait.

At least it wasn't cold anymore.

\------------------------------------

"Wake up Commander." A voice echoed above her. Shepard heard it and she tried to reach for it but she kept drifting away. "Shepard, do you hear me? You need to get out of that bed now – this facility is under attack." The voice said again. Shepard recognized it. It was the same voice from before.

Abruptly everything around her shook and it snapped her back into her body like a rubber band. She could feel her arms and legs - dead weights against a hard surface. There was a tightness in her chest as her lungs expanded and she could feel the low thump of her heart. Everything felt sensitive and sore. She reached up to touch her face but it didn't feel right. It hurt. The voice from the ceiling started speaking again and Shepard looked around.

Loudspeakers. She thought distantly. She pushed herself up into a sitting position and gasped at how much it hurt. She pressed her hand to her side tentatively and looked around. It was a lab of some sort, but there was no one here. There was a load metal moaning sound and Shepard could see flames outside the windows.

"The facility is under attack." The disembodied voice said again and informed her that there was a pistol and armor in the locker behind her. Shepard gritted her teeth and pushed herself off of the table. Her side screamed in protest as her feet hit the floor but she fought against it. She turned to the locker and opened it. She grabbed the pistol first and pulled it out to look at it, then glanced at the armor.

I know this. This is familiar. She grabbed the armor and pulled it on without thinking about it. It was second nature, a muscle memory. Weight of the armor felt good, familiar. She grabbed the pistol again then stared at it. It wasn't right. It didn't feel right. The voice snapped her out of her musings to warn her to get to cover. Shepard moved quickly, ducking behind a short wall just as the gas canisters by the door exploded. At the urging of the voice Shepard pushed herself out of cover and started towards the door. She grabbed a thermal clip in the hallway and slid it into the gun. Shepard blinked as she realized that extra weight from the clip made all the difference in the word. Now, it was familiar. Now, it was perfect.

A mec came around the corner, gun in hand, and Shepard didn't even think about it. She just raised the pistol and shot it in the head. Sparks flew and it hummed mechanically for a moment before collapsing to the floor. Shepard grinned, this she knew how to do.

Suddenly confident, Shepard made her way through the hallways shooting at any mecs that stood in her way. It felt as natural to her as breathing.

"Shepard!" a voice yelled. Shepard spun around with her pistol raised, then paused as she saw the person on the other side of a pane of thick glass. He didn't look familiar to her but he was staring with his mouth gaping open. Shepard frowned at him then noticed the shape move behind him.

"Look out!" She yelled as the heavy mec lumbered down the hallway. She shot at the glass, but it was too thick for the bullet to break. She could only stand and watch as the mec opened fire. The man screamed and collapsed. She stared at the heavy mec for half a moment, then her face hardened and she turned and walked away.

Shepard lost contact with the voice a little while after that and was left to wander the hallways by herself. She came across a small office and absentmindedly hit play on one of the data logs while she searched for anything of use. Shepard paused as the same voice that had woken her came from the machine. Dr. Miranda Lawson was her name, and she was working on something called the Lazarus Project. The more Shepard listened the more she realized that the project was an attempt to bring her back. She had been dead.

* * * Her grip on the wall slipped as an explosion sent her hurdling backwards into the nothingness of space. Her first instinct was to panic, but she fought against it. It would be alright. The suit would keep her warm and she had plenty of air, one of the escape pods could come around and pick her up.

Then she heard a soft hissing sound and an alarm beeped in ear. Her chest tightened and she fought against the urge to scream. She reached behind her and tried to find the hole but her suit suddenly seemed too tight. She couldn't reach it! A desperate scream forced itself past her lips as she kicked her legs trying to contort her body to her will. It didn't help. * * *

Shepard tore herself away from the memory and hit the stop button desperately. The video log disappeared and she took a deep breath, trying to ignore the way her hands were shaking. She didn't know what happened – or how – but now was not the time to worry about it.

Shepard left the office just a little bit too quickly and made her way down the hallway. Gunshots and shouts sounded in front of her and she rushed towards it without thinking. She stopped and peaked around the corner to survey the situation. A tall, dark skinned man with broad shoulders was shooting at six mecs on the opposite balcony. She stepped out and shot three in the head before the man turned to look at her in shock.

"Commander Shepard?" he asked. She gave him a short nod then shot another mec and ran to where he was. She ducked behind the railing for cover and he did the same. "What are you doing here? I thought you were still a work in progress?" He asked dumbfounded. She gave him a droll look and popped out of cover to shoot another mec.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" she demanded. He gave her a sheepish smile.

"Right, sorry. I'm Jacob Taylor, I -" There was a snap as a bullet whizzed between them. "Damn it!" Jacob jerked to his feet and returned the fire, taking down mecs. Shepard watched his face as he returned to cover. He seemed frustrated and angry but controlled.

Good Soldier. She thought to herself.

"Things must be worse than I thought if Miranda's got you running around." He admitted. Shepard nodded but didn't respond, just waited for him to keep talking. He took a deep breath then blew it out sharply. "I'll fill you in but we better get to the shuttle first." Shepard lips tightened but she didn't say anything. Instead she stood up and took out her frustration on the mecs. A second later Jacob stood up next to her. His hands ghosted with purple light and he flung it out. On the other balcony a mec lifted helplessly into the air.

A Pull. Shepard thought blinking at the purple light. I used to be able to do that. As soon as she thought it the memory surfaced. Shepard activated her biotics and hurled a purple Shockwave towards the remaining mecs. It was stronger than she expected, knocking three mecs aside.

"Nice!" Jacob shouted. She ignored him and they took out the remaining mecs. He turned to her with a smile that immediately fell when he saw the expression on her face. "What do you want to know?" he sounded almost apologetic.

"Where am I?" she demanded.

"A secret facility. That's all I can say for now." Shepard's eyes narrowedat his cryptic answer.

"This isn't an Alliance base." She blurted out before she thought about it. Alliance. She knew that name. They were Earth's galactic military. She was a soldier.

Jacob winced slightly. "The Alliance officially declared you as Killed in Action. The whole galaxy thinks you're dead. Our scientists have spent the past two years bringing you back."

"I know about the Lazarus Project." she snapped and Jacob took a step back. Shepard took a deep and rubbed her hand across her face. It still felt wrong. Like it wasn't her face. Like she was wearing a mask.

She knew she should be nicer. Jacob hadn't done anything to warrant her anger but she felt lost and confused. The last thing she remembered was being thrown into space. There was an explosion on the ship she was on. The ship...

"The Normandy," she said quickly, dropping her hand. "What happened?"

"You were attacked."

Shepard waved that away, she had already figured that out. "I mean, did anyone else survive?"

Jacob gave her a small smile and nodded. "Most of the crew." Shepard let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. Thank God. She wanted to ask him more questions but a distant explosion reminded her of where they were.

"Where are the shuttles?" Shepard asked.

"Follow me." Jacob said and started off down the hallway. He seemed more confident now that she wasn't asking questions.

\---------------------------------------------------------------

Cerberus. They said they were Cerberus.

Shepard leaned back in the seat of the shuttle and looked at the two Cerberus operatives in front of her. Jacob was looking at her with a sort of sympathetic expression. He was the one who had told her. At first she didn't remember why it was such a big deal. Cerberus had sounded familiar, but she couldn't figure out why it made her fists clench and her chest burn in anger. And then it clicked. Cerberus had been responsible for some of the worst experiments that Shepard had ever seen.

Cerberus was pro-human. Human first at the expense of every other race in the galaxy and they had committed reckless, immoral acts to achieve their goal. And now they had brought Shepard back from the dead. The thought made bile rise in the back of Shepard's throat.

And sitting next to Jacob was the woman who had done it. Miranda Lawson. The woman that had woken Shepard up and got her moving in the right direction. Shepard wasn't sure if she liked her or not. Miranda was arrogant, and rude, and had a superiority complex. But she had also saved Shepard's life.

"Before you meet with the Illusive Man, we need to ask a few questions to evaluate your condition." Miranda said smoothly leaning forward to rest her elbows on her knees. Miranda was a tall statuesque beauty with dark hair and pale skin, and she was wearing a white skin tight suit that made sure everyone knew it.

"Come on, Miranda." Jacob argued. They debated the merits of the questions but Shepard only heard one thing.

"Two years?" she asked, hating how small her voice sounded. "It's been two years?" Miranda glared at Jacob before he could say a word then turned to Shepard and nodded.

"Two years and twelve days. You were on an operating table for most of it." Shepard felt like she had been punched in the gut. What was it that Jacob has said? You were nothing but meat and tubes when I first saw you. Shepard swallowed and schooled her features. Now was not the time to focus on it. Miranda watched Shepard with narrowed eyes then finally nodded.

Jacob cleared his throat. "Record says that you were a colony kid, lost your parents when the slavers hid Mindoir. You enlisted and won a medal fighting batarians on Elysium. Do you remember that?" Shepard stared at him for a long hard moment.

"Yes." She said shortly. Jacob waited awkwardly for her to continue.

"Okay." he said, when it was clear she wasn't going to. "During a mission on Virmire -"

"We're done." Shepard said shortly, cutting him off. Jacob opened his mouth, then looked at Miranda. After a moment she nodded.

"Alright Shepard, have it your way." Shepard didn't spare her a glance just turned and looked out the window.

Mindor. Elysium. Virmire. There was a churn of regret in the pit of Shepards stomach for the last name, but nothing with the other two. She had lied to Jacob. She couldn't remember. Who was she if she couldn't remember her past? Was she even Shepard? Oh God, what if she wasn't. She knew that Cerberus was capable of some awful things, what if she wasn't even Shepard? She closed her eyes and rested her forehead against the cool window.

No. Come on. Think! What do you remember? She thought back, before waking up, before drifting in space, before the Normandy. What did she remember?

* * * The metal railing dug into her back as she pressed herself against it. She gripped her pistol in front of her while sweat dripped down her back and her heart beat uncontrollably. She was afraid that she was too late, that she had failed. She pushed the emotion down and looked across the opening to where the turian and the krogan had taken cover. Garrus and Wrex trusted her. They had followed her all the way across the galaxy to this moment, and right now they were watching her. Waiting for her order. She couldn't let them down.

"Sovereign recognizes your value. You've impressed it. Surrender to the Reapers and you will be spared. Join us and we can find a place for you." A cold voice said behind her. It was the rogue turian Spectre. The one she had hunted. A little shard of fear slipped through her control but she beat it down and let anger rise instead. Anger would make her strong.

"Sovereign's controlling you through your implants. Don't you see that?" she yelled at him from cover. Maybe, just maybe, she could get through to him and stop this before it started. She readied her pistol anyway. "I can stop it. Step aside and the invasion will never happen."

"We can't stop it! Not forever. Sovereign's too strong." He sounded desperate and almost apologetic and suddenly she knew what to do. He was a Spectre, he was appointed by the Council to protect the galaxy. Even if Sovereign had indoctrinated him there must still be a part of him that believed in those values. Benezia had been able to fight Sovereign off for just a moment, maybe he could too. She stood up and stepped out of cover so that she faced him directly. Garrus hissed at her to get back down but she ignored him.

"It's not too late." She met the rogue Spectre's stare and held it. "You can still redeem yourself." His eyes widened in realization and his mandibles twitched.

"You're right," he said quietly, "Thank you, Shepard." He put his gun against his jaw and pulled the trigger. Blue blood danced through the air as his body fell to the pit below. * * * 

Shepard opened her eyes and met the emptiness of space. Saren. She remembered Saren.

And the Reapers.


	2. Chapter 2

Shepard ducked behind the wall to give her shields time to recharge while she popped the heat sink. She was so angry her hands were shaking. She had to force herself not to make reckless decisions. Like charging out into the line of fire just so she could pistol whip these bastards.

After spending billions of dollars to bring her back apparently the Illusive Man didn't deem it important enough to warrant meeting her face to face. Not that she could blame him, the entire time they spoke she wanted to do nothing more than smack him in that smug mouth of his. But personal feelings aside, she had to admit that he had a point. If human colonies were being taken, then something had to be done.

Seeing Freedom's Progress made her blood boil. The place was a ghost town. Where was the Alliance? What had they been doing in the two years she had been gone? Shepard had almost been relieved when the mecs showed up and started opening fire. Finally, something to vent her anger on.

Her shields popped into place and Shepard stood up firing at the walking scraps of metal. Two burst apart in a shower of sparks. She shot the next between the eyes when the sound of gunfire alerted that more mecs had come around the building to flank them. Miranda and Jacob were a decent job of holding them off but they seemed unprepared for an attack on multiple fronts.

Shepard finished off the last of the mecs on her side then turned to the new force. Her shields were almost gone again and she needed to reload but her chest burned with fury. Instead of ducking behind cover she activated her biotics with a shout. She wasn't thinking clearly and she didn't know exactly what it was she was trying to accomplish, but suddenly her body erupted in purple light and she shot forward. She hit the mec with enough force to send it flying into the wall. Popping sparks it crumpled to the floor. Shepard closed her eyes against the spots that danced in her vision. When she opened them again, she was fine. She turned to look at Miranda who had come up behind her, her pistol pointed at the floor.

"Was that... a biotic charge?!" Miranda blinked at Shepard's angry tone.

"It certainly looked like it."

"I never used to be able to do a biotic charge." Shepard said trying her hardest to rein in her anger.

"Of course not Commander," Miranda replied evenly while Jacob's eyes flicked back and forth between the two women. "But no expense was spared when we put you back together. We made sure you had the best upgrades." Shepard turned away from her sharply.

Upgrades. Like she was some damn machine.

"Let's keep going." Shepard said slipping back into calm face of the Commander. They made their way between the empty buildings until they found themselves at closed corridor. Shepard pushed the green panel and it slid open with a whoosh.

"Stop where you are!" Someone shouted. Shepard saw the guns pointed at her first before she noticed the quarians behind them. Even then, it was only a familiar voice that stayed the twitch of her finger.

"Prazza, you said you'd let me handle this." Tali scorned stepping forward and pushing the quarian's gun away. She turned towards Shepard and paused. "Shepard? Is that... you're alive?" She sounded hesitant, unsure. Suddenly Shepard was reminded of the first time she had met Tali, in that back alley on the citadel. She had been so young, off on her pilgrimage in search of something to bring back to the flotilla. That didn't stop her from standing up to Fist's mercs though. Shepard's heart jumped at the memory.

"It's me Tali. Cerberus rebuilt me." Shepard smiled and took a step forward, suddenly so relieved to see someone from her old crew, but Tali reeled back before she could get close enough to touch her. Shepard felt like she had been punched in the gut and her face fell.

"I'm sorry, Shepard," Tali said quietly not quite looking at her. Instead she took in the emblem stitched into their uniforms. "I just... I don't trust Cerberus."

Me neither. Shepard thought but she didn't say it. Now wasn't the time.

Shepard learned that a quarian named Veetor had come to Freedom's Progress on pilgrimage and was the only survivor. The two teams made plans to get to him but Shepard noticed that Tali didn't look directly at her once during the entire conversation. She always looked over Shepard's shoulder or directed her attention to Miranda or Jacob. Shepard tried not to let it hurt but it was hard. Only years of experience at keeping her face impassive kept the emotion from showing. When they found Veetor he had suffered severe physiological trauma from the stress. Shepard tried to get as much information from him as she could while keeping him calm and assuring him he was safe. It cut her to the core when Tali hesitated before giving Shepard the data from Veetor's omni-tool. Somehow, she had lost her Tali's trust.

\-------------------------------------------------------------

Shepard stepped off of the elevator at deck one and crossed the short distance to her cabin. Her cabin. She had an entire floor all to herself. She pressed the green panel to open the door and stepped inside. It was huge. An office area, a sitting area, a queen sized bed, and a fish tank. What was she going to do with a fish tank? It was almost three times the size of her cabin on the old Normandy.

She was still in awe over the fact Cerberus had rebuilt the Normandy. And Joker was here. She couldn't believe it when she heard the Alliance had grounded him, that they grounded the best pilot in the galaxy! But she couldn't deny that she was happy to see him.

He didn't flinch at the sight of her.

"Commander, if there is anything that you need my assistance with, please do not hesitate to let me know." A polite, feminine voice said from the holo at her left.

Shepard glanced at it. "Uh, thanks... EDI."

"My pleasure, Commander." God, there was an AI on board. Shepard realized that the only reason EDI was here was so that Cerberus could keep an eye on here, and that made it all that much more disturbing.

Shepard stripped out of her armor and stored it in her locker. She peeled the under-armor suit from her skin and headed to the bathroom. It was small compared to the rest of the room but Shepard wasn't complaining. The light turned on automatically as she stepped into the room and she paused as she noticed something. Her skin looked different, almost like it was... glowing. She raised her arm and stared at it. It looked like there were thin glowing wires under her skin. She traced one with her finger and felt the slight indent. They were scars? Her scars were glowing?

Shepard frowned and looked at her stomach where a knife wound had left a six inch scar years ago. It was gone. So was the one on her thigh that she had gotten from an incendiary round and the burn on her shoulder. Shepard turned to the mirror to check for the jagged scar along her jaw and gasped. The scar was gone. So was the one that bisected her eyebrow. Instead new deep glowing scars crisscrossed on the right side of her forehead and on her left cheek. There was a faint red glow in her pupils. She looked like some sort of light up jigsaw puzzle.

No wonder Tali had recoiled from her. She didn't look... human.

Shepard raised a slightly shaking hand and touched her cheek. She could feel the sensation, the heat from her own hand, but the skin felt wrong. It was too stiff and too perfect - except for these jagged scars. They had even removed her freckles. Her hair wasn't right either. It was a shade too bright. And not long enough, shouldn't it be longer after two years?

Not if you were dead. A cold voice whispered in the back of her mind. Shepard swallowed and dropped her hand. Was this even her body?

Suddenly, Shepard didn't want to take a shower anymore. She didn't want to look at this foreign body anymore. She pulled on a pair of pants and a loose t-shirt and left the room. She took the elevator down to the CIC and started up towards the helm when a bubbly girl with short red hair stepped into her path, stopping her short.

"I'm Yeoman Kelly Chambers. I've been assigned as your administrative assistant." The girl said with a salute that looked odd paired with her bright smile. "I'll manage your messages and help you monitor the crew. And I must say, it's such an honor to be working under you Commander Shepard."

"Um, thank you Yeoman Chambers." Shepard said, a little thrown by her enthusiasm, "I'm sure we'll get the chance to get to know each other." If possible the girl's smile grew bigger.

"Oh, absolutely!" She agreed eagerly, "And please call me Kelly. If there's anything that I can get for you just let me know."

"I'll do that... Kelly." Shepard rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. Everyone seemed so eager to please. First EDI and now Kelly. Why the hell did she have an administrative assistant? "Have a good night." Shepard said stepping around her bubble of excitement and moving towards the front of the ship.

"Good night, Commander!" Kelly called after her. Shepard had to fight the urge to shake her head.

"What's up, Commander?" Joker greeted as Shepard stepped up next to him.

"How's it going up here Joker?" Shepard asked glancing around. "Is the Normandy SR-2 living up to her name?"

Joker slid his fingers along the console lovingly. "She's a dream. I know what I said about Cerberus but they certainly know how to build a ship." A holographic sphere appeared on the left side of the console.

"I'm glad you approve Mr. Moreau." The feminine voice sounded pleased.

Joker sighed. "And there's the downside. I liked the Normandy when she was beautiful and quiet. Now she's got this thing I don't want to talk about. It's like ship cancer." Shepard hide a smirk.

"Is it causing any problems?"

"Not yet." Joker admitted grudgingly, "It's just... annoying. So we're heading to Omega, cesspool of the galaxy?"

Shepard nodded. "The Illusive Man suggested we recruit a certain professor there that might be able to help with disrupting the Collector's seeker swarms. I don't have a reason to disagree with him."

"So we're taking orders from the Illusive Man now?" Joker asked carefully not looking at Shepard. Her lips tightened.

"He's sent me dossiers of a couple of people that he thinks would be helpful but I'm making the final decision as to whether or not to include them. I won't let anyone on this ship that I think might endanger the mission." She didn't realize that she had slipped into the cold, hard voice of the Commander until Joker looked at her.

"Anyone in particular you're thinking of Commander?" He asked.

Shepard sighed. "The Illusive Man hired a mercenary that I'm supposed to be picking up at Omega as well. But I don't see how money could possibly command someone's loyalty." Joker snorted and spun his chair around to face her.

"A mercenary huh? Anyone else I should know about?" he asked.

"A convict, a vigilante, and a krogan warlord."

"Geez Commander. You don't do anything halfway, do you?" Shepard grinned.

"I've got to keep you on your toes Joker." She teased.

"Yeah, yeah." He whined, "Just tell me where to go and I'll point the ship in that direction."

"How long until we get to Omega?" She asked standing straighter and slipping back into Commander mode. Joker blinked at then spun his chair back and to face forward.

"ETA is six hours." he replied. Shepard nodded then turned and headed back to her cabin.

\------------------------------------------------------

* * *Her grip on the wall slipped as an explosion sent her hurdling backwards into the nothingness of space. Her first instinct was to panic, but she fought against it. It would be alright. The suit would keep her warm and she had plenty of air, one of the escape pods could come around and pick her up.

Then she heard a soft hissing sound and an alarm beeped in ear. Her chest tightened and she fought against the urge to scream. She reached behind her and tried to find the hole but her suit suddenly seemed too tight. She couldn't reach it! A desperate scream forced itself past her lips as she kicked her legs trying to contort her body to her will. It didn't help.

Metal debris from her ship drifted around her as she spun helplessly, desperately searching for escape. Her lungs began screaming as the air slipped from her suit. Tears slipped down her cheeks as she watched the bright blue planet drift closer. Spots danced in front of her eyes and her muscles spasmed uncontrollably. A deadly calm tried to seep into her but it fought against it. She couldn't go now. She wasn't done.

Not yet.

The dark pressed in on her and she found herself on her knees. The ground was hard and the cold seeped through her suit and into her bones. She expected the air to billow in front of her with the warmth of her breath, but there was no breath, and there was no air. She pushed herself to her feet and looked around, straining her eyes to see beyond the darkness. At first she saw nothing, then slowly she was able make out the dim shapes of trees. They were thin and spindly, their roots rippled across the ground and their skeletal branches reaching up to scrape the dark sky. She reached out to touch one but pulled her hand back at the last moment suddenly afraid.

She could hear the sound of waves crashing in the sea but could see no water. The sound grew louder and louder until it sounded like it was coming from all around her. She reeled back and looked around wildly but saw nothing. The sound pressed against her and she could hear the whispers in the waves. They slid down her spine and crept into her ear.

COME WITH US. YOUR TIME IS DONE. COME AND REST.

She shuddered at the touch of shadows on the back of her neck. It was soft and assuring. A gentle encouragement to go along with the words. She cried out and broke away. She ran from the shadows and the whispers and the part of her that wanted to give in to them. * * *

Shepard jerked awake with a gasp. Her skin was covered in a cold sweat and she trembled slightly. The room was dark save for the ambient light from the fish tank. For just a moment, Shepard thought she saw something shift in the shadows. She jumped out of bed and snapped on the light. There was nothing there. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, willing her body to calm. When her heart stopped hammering in her chest, Shepard opened her eyes and slowly made her way to the shower.

It was just a dream. There was no truth to it. She told herself but even as she thought the words she knew that it was a lie. The dark forest, it was real.

It wasn't until Shepard stepped under the spray of warm water that she realized she had been shivering.


End file.
